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I'm Marie, a food lover from Québec City, Canada. My blog is for those curious about the whys and hows of cooking and baking success.Learn more >

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Growing Up with Jacques Pépin

I’m trying to remember how old I was when I first watched Jacques Pépin on TV. I was in my early teenage years and already a fan of cooking shows. In the home where I grew up, the first floor was an open plan where the kitchen opened onto the dining and living rooms. The TV was often on in the living room, and we could watch it all the way back from the kitchen. My Mom and I would often cook or bake while watching cooking shows – I inherited her ability (or need) to do two things at once – and it strikes me today that most of the cooking shows produced in Quebec back then were hosted by homemakers rather than chefs, which made their cooking very approachable.

My Mom very often jotted down the recipes we liked as we were watching live, and I remember, reading her notes, feeling I still had a lot to learn because she only had to write down the ingredients and a few keywords (oven temperature, cooking times) to remember how to make a dish. She knew the techniques so she didn’t have to detail everything, and she usually liked to make the recipes her own by changing an ingredient or two or presenting it differently.

It was around that time that I started zapping to American channels once in a while, discovering the advantage of watching teenage TV shows that we had to wait for so long to see translated into Canadian-French. I was still very unfamiliar with English but I was hungry to learn more, particularly to understand the lyrics to the music I listened to (very loudly) in my room or my Walkman every day. One day, I suppose I tuned in to PBS and stumbled upon Jacques Pépin’s show.

I remember feeling intimidated but mesmerized at once: it was the first time I was watching a man cooking on TV; I found he was working so fast and so instinctively – and I was impressed that a man with such a bad French accent could have a career on television! Most people my age had that same very bad French accent (but much less vocabulary), so we were very shy and wary about speaking English to anyone. I was mortified when I had to speak in English in front of 30 other French-speaking students, so of course I could absolutely not imagine reaching out to thousands of viewers like Jacques Pépin did. I found him easy to understand because he pronounced words the same way I did, and I felt all grown up to be watching a “real chef” cooking.

“If I had to judge how good technically a chef is, I probably would ask him to do an omelette”. A 5-minute classic.

So you’ll understand that seeing Jacques Pépin in person, a couple of weeks ago at the IACP conference in Austin, was kind of a historical moment for me. I couldn’t believe how he looked exactly the same as he did 15 years ago. I watched him cooking on stage, using his hands as spatulas to empty mixing bowls, dipping the tip of his finger into whatever he was making and licking it to check seasoning, cutting things roughly and assembling dishes in seconds. He was just as quick, brusque and nonchalant as he always was, answering questions from the public as he cooked five different dishes in an hour. Seeing him perform as he always did felt reassuring, and I did feel all grown up indeed, watching him while sitting amongst a crowd of culinary professionals rather than from my couch at home.

It was with great pleasure and honor that I later met him at the book fair. I had the chance to chat with him in French for a few minutes, telling him unoriginal things like how inspiring he was as a culinary model when I was growing up, but he was very kind and much softer-spoken than whenever he’s performing. I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.

I thought that many (if not most) food-lovers must consider Jacques Pépin as a legendary figure as well, so I had himsign a copy of his book, Fast Food My Way, for you to win! This istrulya collector’s item. Scroll down for the giveaway details.

*** NOTE: This giveaway is now closed. ***The lucky winner of a signed copy of Jacques Pépin’s Fast Food My Way is: Peter! Congratulations!

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I find Fast Food My Way a great summary of Pépin’s natural style: it’s a compendium of simple, unfussy but elegant recipes. It isn’t bound to just French techniques: it crosses the borders to bring flavorful inspiration to dishes you will want to make again and again. Some dishes are heavy on their promises (the Instant Beef Tenderloin Stew and 30-Minute Cassoulet are especially intriguing), but the recipes I tried delivered both on simplicity of execution and taste.

To give you a taste of his book, I’m sharing a classic French recipe, the Bouillabaisse, made the Jacques way: simpler, faster and just as flavourful. The ingredient list is impressive, but it’s quick to assemble and it takes just 30 minutes to cook.

Chicken Bouillabaisse

This dish takes its inspiration from the famous fish stew of the South of France and contains all the classic seasonings, including saffron. An expensive spice, saffron is essential to this dish. The best comes from Spain and bouillabaisse is a beautiful way to showcase it. Although the use of tarragon is not absolutely necessary, tarragon has a slight anise flavor that complements the other seasonings. The dish is served with a traditional rouille, a garlicky mayonnaise seasoned with cayenne and paprika.

For the bouillabaisse: Mix the olive oil, garlic, saffron, lemon zest, salt, pepper, fennel seeds, herbes de Provence, onion, celery, and carrot in a large bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to cook (at least 20 minutes). This step can be done up to 8 hours in advance.

Transfer the contents of the bowl to a Dutch oven or a stainless steel pot and add the tomatoes, wine, water and potatoes. Cover, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and boil gently for 25 minutes. Add the sausage and cook for 5 minutes longer. If adding Pernod, stir it in now with the tarragon.

For the rouille: Remove half a cooked potato and ¼ cup liquid from the pot and place in a food processor with the garlic, cayenne and paprika. Process for 10 seconds. Add the egg yolk. Then, with the processor running, slowly pour in the oil and process for a few seconds, or until incorporated. Taste for salt and add some, if needed.

Serve the bouillabaissein warmed soup plates with a spoonful of the rouille drizzled on top.

The chance I had to meet my favorite authors in person at the International Association of Culinary Professionals Annual Conference in Austin inspired me to allow four readers to benefit from it as well. In June and early July, I’m giving away four fantastic cookbooks, all signed by their authors.

The second giveaway is a copy of Jacques Pépin’s Fast Food My Way. A collector’s item!

77 Responses to Growing Up with Jacques Pépin

I have to say that while Pepin’s cooking skills are impressive, as a native born English-speaking American, I’m appalled that in all these years, he hasn’t bothered to learn proper English. It’s rare he says the plural of a word correctly (“these onion” instead of “these onions”, etc). It’s very distracting and frustrating.

That said, I do a lot of learning to cook watching PBS. They do show some great programs.

I agree that it may be surprising that he still speaks a very broken English, after all those years! Many other famous French chefs (Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert, etc) may have a better vocabulary but they still have a razor-sharp accent. And it’s not just chefs, in my experience, a lot of French people (from France) have trouble adjusting to the English language. Who am I to judge? I myself of course have an accent when I speak English, but I think French-Canadians manage to modulate our way of speaking a little bit more easily. You’d have to ask why that is to a language specialist! As long as we can understand each other, right?

I’ve been a fan of Jacques Pepin since the first time I saw him on TV. I remember him saying, in regards to pairing wine with asparagus, “the only thing worse than a bad wine pairing is no wine at all” (or something to that effect). I’d love to be entered!

I’m dreaming of the time I have my own cookbook. Cooking is the one thing that I have found that I just love to do that relaxes me. It is my therapy. I’d love to win this book. This recipe also looks absolutely delicious.

Mr Pépin is great inspiration for all cooks! His recipes are indeed of the relaxing kind, not to complicated to execute but very satisfying to enjoy. I wish you the best of luck in making your own cookbook – but before that, in winning the book!

What a thrill for you to have met this great man. I have also watched him on our local PBS station and am always amazed how he can simplify complicated recipes making home cooks like me eager to get in the kitchen and try recipes I would never have tried otherwise. This chicken bouillabaisse will definitely be on the menu next week. Thanks for sharing.

I loved your post! Oh, how lucky you were to meet Mr. Pepin and how thoughtful to share autographed copies. My favorite Pepin recipe is braised leeks. I never knew what a leek was and now it’s one of my family’s favorite vegetables. Thank you, Jacques!

At the conference, Mr Pépin made a priceless impersonnation of Julia. This was one of the highlights of the conference and that says in a nutshell why he’s such a legendary and influential chef. I’ll never forget it!

I just started my “food blogging experience” a couple of months ago. Still don’t feel experienced enough to start my own blog but I love love LOVE reading all of you amazing blogger’s posts. It is truly inspiring.

Jacques Pépin hasn’t been ‘a part’ of my childhood or youth. I HAD heard of him but actually I just found some of his shows on youtube TODAY. And that was before I read your post – how random is that!?! :) And now, I just spent the whole day watching shows and finding info about him on youtube – instead of studying for my exams :) So much more fun! He is fantastic!

That was quite a long post – but whatever – sharing is caring, you know :)

Hello Emma, so happy you visited! There are LOTS of awesome food blogs out there, I should know: my RSS reader is permanently filled with hundreds of unread posts from all of my favorite blogs, I simply can’t keep up! I do try to add my own twist to it, I hope you’ll come back and tell me how you like it in the long run. What a coincidence that you discovered Jacques’ shows right before you stumbled upon my blog! Isn’t it great that he has all his shows online? Did you see the series “More Fast Food My Way”? It’s his most recent one and whole 30-mins episodes are online on Youtube. Hours of culinary fun ahead! :)

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to write this very kind comment. Give me inspiration to go on! I hope you create your own food blog, if that’s what you want to do, and come back to give me your address so I can add it to my favorites!

It is exactly the “More Fast Food My Way”-shows that I have been watching today. Actually it started out because I wanted to learn to make “THE PERFECT OMELETTE”, and hey-ho youtube found Jacques and Julia :) After these “appetizers”, I just wanted more. After the +4 hours of watching the shows, I thought, I’d take a break and check out the newest post on my “bloglovin”-profile. After scrolling through the first 50 posts, there you were with a J. Pépin article. It was sooo strange! I’ll consider it a sign from heaven – it might be my lucky day on the 23rd ;-)

Fantastic that you had the chance to meet Jacques – and of course all of us faithful readers appreciate that you thought of us in the situation and secured an autographed copy for someone lucky! I hope you got one for yourself as well!

Your description of your childhood love of cooking shows brought back such memories for me. I also loved Jacques Pepin, never lucky enough to see him in person! And this dish looks phenomenal. A perfect use of the fresh jar of saffron and herbes de Provence burning a hole in my pantry. Thank you!

This is indeed a recipe that showcases the deep and unique flavor of saffron perfectly. Plus, your whole kitchen fills up with the saffron’s aroma while the bouillabaisse cooks, what’s not to like? It’s an incredibly tasty dish that I will make again and again.

I found your blog this morning through foodgawker. What a wonderful blog you have here! I really enjoyed reading your post. It brought back memories of when I used to watch Pasquale Carpino with my mom back in the 80’s. :-)

I’m a Canadian living abroad (Germany) and I’m wondering if I’m still eligible to enter the draw for the book? I’ve already signed up for your newsletter and have already ‘liked’ Food Nouveau on Facebook.

Hello Rosa! Happy to have you on my blog! YES – the giveaway is open internationally. I will edit my post to add this detail, thanks for asking! The bouillabaisse is absolutely worth it. I have leftovers in my fridge and I can’t stop thinking about it… I have so many cookbooks, but this recipe alone made me want to revisit Jacques’ classics. I just googled chef Carpino – didn’t remember him by name but I totally remember seeing him on TV! He was a quite character, wasn’t he?

I really like your description of Jacques, I think you’re absolutely right. He, along with Julia, of course, made French cooking accessible to many people. Seeing him work without much fuss allowed a lot of people to think they could make it too!